Righting the Wrongs
by whitecrossgirl
Summary: Post 4x05. Sometimes sorry just isn't good enough
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This was suggested by ArthurGwen2010 who asked me to basically re-write the end of 'His Father's Son' wherein Gwen doesn't accept Arthur's apology. **

There was a general sense of relief and happiness as the knights returned back to Camelot; war had been avoided, peace had been achieved between King Arthur and Queen Annis. One of the knights had been sent on ahead to send the word that they were returning and as they reached the kingdom; the townspeople had all abandoned their jobs and routines to cheer the returning knights. Arthur found it hard to hide a smile as everyone cheered for them and as they reached the castle courtyard; it was packed with guards, servants, stable boys, maids and the families of those who had gone to fight. As Arthur watched some of his knights being reunited with their wives, girlfriends, children and sisters; he looked around for Guinevere.

Then he remembered.

Arthur regretted what he had done the moment the words were out of his mouth. He hadn't meant to do it but he wasn't sure of anything anymore. Every decision he made had a consequence. Every decision he made affected every person in Camelot. And so far it seemed, he'd been doing nothing but making mistakes. He wanted to do things right but it all kept going wrong. He had been losing control and he needed something to hold onto but all he had been doing was shoving everything out of his reach. He had hardly ate; hardly slept. Every time he shut his eyes he saw the same two images.

_The look on King Caerleon's face as he killed him. The way the light seemed to fade from his eyes as the skin paled and blood pooled from his wounded chest. The vacant glazed over look in his eyes seemed to burn itself in Arthur's memory._

_The tears pricking Guinevere's eyes and her attempts to maintain control over her emotions. After a few seconds a mask of sorts seemed to fall over her face but her brown eyes were still sparkling with tears she was unwilling to shed. _

Arthur knew he had to try and put things right. If Queen Annis could forgive him; well at least agree to settle their dispute without bloodshed then he hoped that Guinevere could forgive him. If he could explain himself, help her understand… surely she would forgive him. Right?

"Elyan!"

Arthur was brought back to reality as Gwen hurried down the steps. Elyan jumped off his horse and wrapped his arms around his sister as Merlin also dismounted and hugged Gwen too. Arthur and the others dismounted their horses and he watched as Gwaine, Percival and Leon also joined Gwen, Merlin and Elyan. Before he could stop himself, Arthur walked over to where the others were talking about what had happened; relaying the offer Arthur had made with Queen Annis to ensure that none of them would be killed in battle. As he approached, they turned to him and Gwen nodded her head at him.

"Elyan and the others were just telling me what you did. It was a very wise and brave decision." Gwen said politely; too politely.

"Thank you Guinevere, how have things been here while we were gone?" Arthur asked with a smile; and Gwen looked at him and lightly shrugged her shoulders.

"Fairly quiet, I need to get back to work." Gwen replied and returned into the castle. Arthur and the others watched her go. Merlin looked at Arthur; aware of what had happened. He looked at Arthur and frowned. He didn't need to say anything, Arthur could see the anger in his eyes. Merlin had been against Arthur's decision from the moment he found out about it. Arthur nodded at him and walked inside after Gwen. He needed to fix this, to put things right.

As Arthur walked away, Merlin and the knights looked at one another. Arthur hadn't been himself over the past few days, but they had assumed it was simply because of what had happened between him and Queen Annis. Now it seemed there was more than just one battle Arthur had been fighting. But things had been going quite good between Arthur and Gwen, hadn't it?

"What was that all about?" Elyan asked; had they had an argument or something before Arthur left?

"Something like that," Merlin replied.

"Should we do something?" Gwaine asked.

"It's not really our business though. I think we should let them work it out." Leon reasoned and the others nodded in agreement. They had made an unspoken agreement not to get involved with Arthur and Gwen's relationship. They deserved their privacy and since it didn't seem to personally involve any of them; they decided to do the smart thing and mind their own business.

Gwen hurried back to Gaius' quarters. Since Uther's death she had been working along with Gaius as well as covering any of the other maids who were unable to work due to illness or injury. Servant's work. As excepted, she was a servant after all. And she wasn't ashamed of it. She was proud of her background and who she was. Just because _some_ people looked down on her and people like her, it didn't mean they were bad people. Commoners were hard working, decent, respectful people. It was the arrogance of the wealthy which blinded them to that fact. Not that she was bitter or anything; she was just tired. Tired of being put down or pushed around or made to feel like being a commoner _was_ something to be ashamed of. It wasn't. Gwen mightn't have grown up with much of anything but there was always a fire lit, bread on the table and clothes on her back. That was enough. It was all she needed.

"How are Arthur and the knights?" Gaius asked as she entered the room.

"Unhurt, Arthur managed to persuade Queen Annis to one-on-one combat rather than war." Gwen replied and Gaius nodded thoughtfully. He knew Queen Annis, she had once been a good friend to Queen Ygraine and he knew her to be a mature, respectful and strong woman. Her declaration of war was an expression of her grief and rage but Gaius expected nothing less of Queen Annis when Arthur made his offer to prevent as little bloodshed as possible. Annis was a stern woman but she wasn't vengeful and not the sort who would allow her hardships be shared by others who weren't as strong as her.

"Who was it that fought?" Gaius asked, none of the knights had come down to him yet and he supposed if they were injured, they would have come straight away. 

"Arthur," Gwen replied and Gaius frowned slightly at his assistant. Gwen hadn't been herself the past few days; she had been quieter than usual, more withdrawn and would move around almost in a sort of daze. Gaius had secretly always viewed Gwen as the daughter he'd never had and he knew she seen him as a surrogate father following Tom's death. She had been a good student for him as well as being a good friend to Merlin and Gaius may be getting on in years, but he knew what two people in love were like and that was definitely Arthur and Gwen. The physician was actually getting quite concerned over her well-being.

"Gwen, are you sure you're quite well. You haven't been yourself recently." Gaius pointed out.

"I'm fine Gaius, really. I was just worried about the others, that's all." Gwen replied. It wasn't a lie; her brothers had gone to war, of course she'd been worried about them. It's just that she'd been that little bit selfish and had spent some time feeling sorry for herself. Gaius nodded thoughtfully.

"I see, you said Arthur was the one who fought in the combat, did he seem injured?" Gaius asked.

"I wasn't really speaking to him," Gwen replied. "But he seemed quite well."

"I'll have you check on him later if he doesn't come down. Could I ask you to deliver these for me to Lady Catherine; the child has been giving her trouble again." Gaius instructed as he pressed two bottles into Gwen's hands. As he did so; they made eye contact with one another. "Everything will sort itself out Gwen, you can be sure of that." Gwen looked at Gaius who smiled at her. Despite herself, Gwen had to smile back. There was no getting anything around Gaius; the man seemed to literally know everything.

"Thank you Gaius," Gwen smiled and she left the room. Gwen quite liked Lady Catherine; she was married to one of the knights and was five months pregnant with her first child. However Lady Catherine hadn't been able to be with the other women awaiting the knight's return after a bad bout of morning sickness had kept her in bed all day. The morning sickness was usually supposed to have eased off at this stage of her pregnancy so Gaius had prescribed her bed rest to be on the safe side. Gwen reached Lady Catherine's chambers and knocked on the door.

"Come in," a voice responded and Gwen opened the door. Lady Catherine was sitting up in bed and her husband, Sir Richard was sitting on the mattress with his hand pressed to his wife's stomach with a wide smile on his face and as Gwen walked over he chuckled and moved his hand slightly.

"That was a big one," Sir Richard remarked as his unborn child kicked at his hand.

"They know it's you." Lady Catherine commented. "He or she's been quite content the past few days. It seems like they have been waiting for you to come back."

"It's because of Arthur I did come back." Sir Richard replied, the idea of sitting here with his loving wife and unborn child had been the thought that always kept him going. Everything he did in his life was for them. Gwen smiled slightly as Lady Catherine looked at her.

"Gaius sent these up for you to help with the sickness. Take one dose before you go to sleep or if you feel any more nausea." Gwen explained as she set the bottles down on the dresser.

"Thank you Gwen," Lady Catherine smiled and Gwen slipped out of the room. As she walked back towards Gaius', she turned a corner and came face to face with one of two people who she really didn't want to see.

"Guinevere," Arthur said as he walked up to her. Gwen quickly bobbed into a curtsy, noting the frown which appeared on Arthur's face as she did so.

"My lord," Gwen replied politely.

"I think we've moved past the 'my lord' Guinevere, you can call me Arthur. You know that." Arthur stated and Gwen shook her head.

"I think that's quite _inappropriate_, my lord. A servant to address the king in such a way." Gwen stated; the emphasis used on the word had not gone unnoticed by Arthur who attempted to reach her hand but Gwen placed her arms behind her back before he could.

"I've been looking everywhere for you. I wanted to apologise." Arthur said. It was all he had wanted to do the moment he let those poisonous words out. He wanted to take them back, apologise, make things right between them.

"For what?" Gwen asked. "You were right Arthur. You and I, we're just too different. It just took us too long to work it out. You're a king, descended from a long line of royalty and nobility and I am the daughter of a blacksmith and a maid. Yet I still don't see why you had to be so callous to me? Our time together mustn't have meant anything to you."

"Are you being serious? Guinevere, I am truly sorry for what I said to you. Believe me, if I could somehow take it all back, I would in a heartbeat. I was just so confused and worried about everything and I am truly sorry for all I said and did. But I had to." Arthur argued.

"Had to?! You 'had to' rip my heart out of my chest and stamp all over it? You 'had to' make me feel like I was completely worthless? You 'had to' break my heart before you went off to war, knowing you might not come back? Maybe I'm being stupid but I don't see why you 'had to' do any of it!" Gwen snapped as she struggled to regain control of her temper. Losing her cool would not do her any good right now.

"Because I was scared!" Arthur retorted. "I have been preparing all my life to become king and now that I am, I am completely over my head. Don't you see, every single little thing I do now has massive consequences. I killed a man and almost started a war in which hundreds of us could have died. I couldn't go away knowing that if I died, you would be left devastated and you've experienced so much death; I couldn't add mine to that list. I needed to make sure that you wouldn't have those feelings anymore so that if I did die, you would only mourn me as a king, not as the man you loved. I was trying to protect you. I didn't mean what I said but they were a means to an end. It was for your benefit."

"My benefit? So crying myself to sleep, having every last piece of self-esteem be destroyed and constantly worrying about you and your safety was for my benefit? How on earth do you rationalise that? Do you honestly think I would hate you? Do you think I could hate you? Even now; I'm angry at you, yelling at you and literally seconds away from slapping you but I still love you. After all we've been through; all we've seen and done; all the times we faced the dangers and stared death right in the face before emerging the other side… how could I not do anything but love you." Gwen snapped. God almighty she did love this man but she was also using every last piece of her self-control to not slap him. Didn't Arthur get it; she never cared about his titles or anything like that. She loved him for who he was; the man behind the crown and chainmail; the real living, caring, funny, loving man he really was.

"I guess I wasn't really thinking. I just didn't know what to do and I am so sorry. Please, let me put this right. I mean it Guinevere, I am just so, so sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen; it all just did. Please, can you forgive me?" Arthur pleaded as he reached behind her back and took her arms forward so that she could squeeze his hands. Gwen looked at their joined hands before looking Arthur in the eyes. She could see the emotion in his eyes; emotion that wasn't there the other night. She had her answer.

"I can't."

"What? Why?" Arthur stuttered.

"Because I'm tired. Tired of always being looked down on because of my background. Tired of feeling like I wasn't good enough for you or your love. Tired of people whispering behind my back about how I was this, that and the other. Tired of being called every name under the sun because we dared to be together. Tired of offering you my heart over and over again and watch you use it as a plaything and throw aside like it's nothing. Like I'm nothing. So if you'll excuse me," Gwen said and she pulled her hands away and attempted to walk past Arthur who stepped in front of her, blocking her path each time.

"Guinevere, I really am sorry." Arthur attempted but Gwen shook her head.

"Sometimes sorry isn't good enough Arthur. Excuse me." Gwen said and she walked past Arthur and hurried away; determined not to start crying. Arthur watched her go and felt tears prick his own eyes.

"I love you Guinevere," Arthur whispered brokenly as he turned and walked in the opposite direction.

From their positions just around the corner, Gwaine and Percival looked at one another.

"What was that all about?" Percival whispered; they all could sense something was off between Arthur and Gwen but they hadn't been expecting that.

"I don't know but I think Mum and Dad have just split up." Gwaine muttered and he made a mental note to tell the others what had happened. Even though they had agreed to keep out of Arthur and Gwen's relationship; something told him that they needed to get involved.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thanks for the response for the first chapter- 20 reviews so no pressure on me or anything. As usual all credit goes to AurthurGwen2010 for her prompt.**

"What's wrong?" Leon asked as he walked into Gwaine's chambers to find Elyan, Merlin, Percival and Gwaine waiting on his arrival. Gwaine had called them all together, citing some sort of an emergency. They'd only just come back from the last one for goodness sake! Leon loved being a knight but sometimes all this running around, defying death could be exhausting.

"It's about Arthur and Gwen," Gwaine replied. "You know how they've been acting weird lately,"

"Yeah because of what happened with Queen Annis," Elyan replied.

"Except it wasn't just that. Apparently they've spilt up." Gwaine replied. Leon and Elyan frowned and Merlin and Percival nodded to corroborate Gwaine's answer.

"Why would they do that?" Leon asked. It wasn't really any of their concern but the fact remains that it didn't make sense, anyone could see how much Arthur and Gwen loved one another.

"We're not really sure but we overheard them arguing in a corridor a while ago. As far as we could make out Arthur's claiming he had to dump Gwen because she I quote; 'wasn't good enough' only now he's trying to put it right." Percival explained. There was a moment of silence after he finished speaking before Elyan got to his feet.

"I'll kill him," Elyan muttered and Merlin grabbed his arm.

"No you won't. This is something Arthur needs to fix himself and being lynched alive by the five of us won't help." Merlin said. "Besides, if you kill him then you'll be executed for treason which will just make it all worse."

"Funny Merlin," Elyan retorted sarcastically. "So what do we do?"

"I think we need to talk to both of them, find out what happened and see if we can do anything to help. If there isn't then we stay out of it and let them work it out themselves." Merlin reasoned, it was their best course of action. Help wherever they could and if they couldn't then they should mind their own business.

"So who will we speak to first?" Gwaine asked.

"I think we should go straight to Arthur. Gwen's hurt, angry and speaking from experience, it's best to leave her alone for a while." Elyan replied as he led the way out of the room. As they made their way to Arthur's chambers, they discussed on who would say what before they reached the door. Merlin knocked and the five of them walked in.

Arthur was still slightly in shock from his confrontation with Gwen. He had thought, well, hoped that if he apologised and explained then she would understand and forgive him for what he'd done. But he was wrong, he should have realised that simply saying sorry wouldn't have been enough. What was he going to do? Arthur paced around his chambers thinking. Guinevere was right. She was always right. He should have never have hurt her like that. Damn it, he was the king! If he wanted to be in a relationship with a woman he loved then who had the right to question his judgement? Nobody. As he walked around, Arthur began considering all they had been through together; how they would work and fight together, the various dangers they had faced, the times they were each other's emotional support in times of darkness. They always made it through because they stuck together. Arthur was always known for his courage but the more he thought about it, Guinevere had always been much braver than he'd ever been. She never thought twice about speaking her mind and doing what she knew was right, was just as willing to fight as any of the knights and possibly the greatest example of her courage was how she managed to endure everything that had been thrown at her but always managed to keep a smile on her face and her head up. That was the sort of person he needed in his life. That was the sort of woman who should become queen.

He had to put this right.

Just as Arthur reached that thought, there was a knock on the door and Merlin walked in with the knights. Arthur stopped pacing and looked at them. What was it now, they'd only just come back from the last escapade.

"Is there a problem?" Arthur asked.

"We need to speak to you, about Gwen." Elyan replied as he fixed Arthur with a hard stare and Arthur nodded, he should have seen this coming.

"Me and Percival overheard you two earlier and fair to say, none of us are too happy." Gwaine explained.

"I understand but this is something between myself and Guinevere." Arthur replied.

"That is what you think but this affects all of us. If your relationship with my sister is 'inappropriate' because she's a commoner then it makes sense that the three of us, myself, Gwaine and Percival shouldn't have been knighted because we're commoners too. Commoners aren't seen as having the 'appropriate' background to be knights, do they?" Elyan explained, his voice was steady but Arthur could hear the controlled anger in his voice. He also inwardly noted how similar Gwen and Elyan looked when they were angry.

"The circumstances are entirely different," Arthur claimed but they all scoffed at the comment.

"No it's not. Arthur you know we wouldn't usually question your judgements and decisions but this is one that none of us can agree to." Leon explained calmly. "Just as we see you as a brother, we also see Gwen as a sister and nobody is allowed to hurt our sister."

"You have to understand, I have been doing my best to try and put things right between us and I can understand and commend your loyalty to Guinevere. However this is something I need to put right by myself." Arthur explained.

"There's still one thing I'm yet to understand. If you loved Gwen, why did you even try and hurt her in the first place? You said it was to try and make her feel better if you didn't come back from war; if she hated you or was angry with you then she wouldn't mourn your death as much but we all know Gwen wouldn't be like that." Gwaine stated. That was the one thing which had been bugging him; Arthur's claim that it had been for Gwen's benefit stunk like week old horse dung. To their surprise, Merlin let out a sarcastic laugh.

"That's what you told her?" Merlin demanded. That was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard in his life. Everyone knew that Gwen couldn't hate anyone, well except Morgana and Morgause but that was different. The knights looked at Merlin.

"What do you mean?" Percival asked. Merlin looked at Arthur and his gaze hardened.

"Someone, I'm sure you can work out who, felt that as king, Arthur shouldn't be in a relationship with Gwen. That a newly crowned king in a relationship with a serving girl wouldn't look good for Camelot in comparison to the other kingdoms, which is total rubbish in my opinion. Then again I'm a servant so what do I know?" Merlin explained with sarcasm covering his last question. The knights took in what he said and they rounded on Arthur like angry wolves as they realised what Merlin was saying.

"Agravaine told you to dump Gwen." Elyan stated and the others shook their heads in disbelief. Agravaine was a git but none of them thought he would do something like that. Elyan clenched his fist and stepped forward but before anything could happen a voice came from the doorway.

"What's going on?"

All of them turned and looked at the figure standing in the doorway. Gwen was standing in the doorway taking in the sight of the men. Arthur was standing apart from Merlin and the knights who were all glaring at him, Elyan had moved towards him with clenched fists. However they were all looking at her frozen and Gwen stepped forward into the room, turning to Arthur.

"Sire, Gaius would like to see you in his chambers. He just wants to be sure that you are fine after your fight." Gwen said, maintaining the same polite tone of voice she'd used earlier.

"Thank you Guinevere and I told you before, it's Arthur." Arthur nodded and Gwen looked at the knights who glared at Arthur as he left the room.

"What was all that about?" Gwen asked. Elyan seemed about ready to punch Arthur and none of the other knights looked as though they would have stopped him.

"We were just," Elyan began and Gwen held up a hand to stop him. She knew exactly what Elyan and the others had been planning to do. Gwen looked at the others as she walked over to the knights.

"Listen, I appreciate what you were all trying to do but I'm not a little girl anymore. I can look after myself. Whatever relationship that existed between Arthur and myself is our business, it's not your concern." Gwen explained as she looked at the knights. She loved them all like brothers but she was a grown woman and could fight her own battles. Literally.

"We were just trying to look out for you." Leon reasoned, he'd know Gwen since they were children and her mother worked as his mother's maid.

"And it means a lot to me that you care but the fact remains, I'm not a child and this is a private matter between myself and Arthur. So forming a lynch mob isn't really necessary." Gwen said with a small smile.

"We weren't going to lynch him, only give him a slight roughing up." Gwaine said with a grin as they walked out of Arthur's chambers. The knights were due on their patrols now anyway and Merlin and Gwen bade them farewell and decided to wander about the castle to avoid going back to Gaius' as long as possible. As the two of them rounded a corner, they saw the other person neither of them wished to see. Agravaine was walking down the corridor with his back to them and Gwen went to turn and walk in the opposite direction but Merlin grinned and with a flash of his eyes, Agravaine stumbled and fell forward. As he attempted to right himself neither Gwen nor Merlin could hold back their laughter and quickly ducked back around the corner to ensure they wouldn't be caught.

"We shouldn't laugh," Gwen said as she pressed her hand to her mouth to hold back her laughter.

"We shouldn't," Merlin nodded seriously but as they made eye contact burst out laughing again. It was immature, childish but was also Agravaine falling flat on his face. Who wouldn't laugh at that?

"Gaius, you wanted to see me?" Arthur asked as he walked into the physician's quarters. Gaius looked up and gestured for Arthur to sit down as the physician mixed together various concoctions for various illnesses and pains. As Arthur sat down he felt that familiar sense of apprehension that he always got when he went to Gaius'. The physician always had a way of making him feel like he was ten years old again and in trouble for breaking some of his vials with his toy sword. (Once, it happened once. Or twice.)

"I just wanted to examine you Sire. Merlin explained to me what you did. It was very brave of you." Gaius stated as he regarded the young king. "Are there any areas which are painful?"

"My shoulder is a bit painful but that's not what's wrong." Arthur replied. He was always able to speak to Gaius, secretly Arthur viewed him as being more of a father figure than Uther. He'd loved his father but Uther wasn't exactly a hands-on parent.

"May I ask what is?" Gaius offered as Arthur pulled down his shirt to allow Gaius to examine his shoulder, which aside for some heavy-duty bruising seemed fine.

"It's Guinevere, I made a mistake and I'm trying to put it right but I don't know how to." Arthur admitted. Gaius nodded and fixed Arthur's shirt before facing Arthur and giving Arthur a stern look.

"I'm sure that you do not need me to tell you that you have made a mistake in hurting Gwen. She's a sweet girl and deserved to be treated better than being pushed aside as though she meant nothing to you." Gaius stated. He really did see Gwen as being the daughter he'd never had and hated to see her upset.

"I know that Gaius, I regretted what I did the moment I did it. I tried to apologise but she'll barely speak to me. I don't know what I'm supposed to do." Arthur admitted. He hated this; he screwed up, he knew that. He didn't need everyone rubbing it in his face every five minutes. All he wanted was to fix this mess.

"I honestly don't think there's anything you can do. Gwen knows you're sorry but she is still hurt. She needs time for those wounds to heal before she can do what she feels is best. We know that Gwen is the most forgiving out of all of us so give her time and whatever decision she makes will be hers alone to make." Gaius advised. That was the best advice he could give Arthur.

Arthur sat silently for a moment before sighing. As ever, Gaius was right and he told the physician as much before he left the room and walked alone back to his chambers.

_The doors to the great hall were opened and the crowd watched as the lone figure in a purple and pale yellow gown made her way up the aisle. Her head was held high and her gaze on the man standing in front of the throne holding a golden, bejewelled crown in his hands. As the woman knelt down at the steps, her face was carefully expressionless save for a small, nervous smile as she regarded her husband as he held the crown aloft._

"_By the sacred laws vested in me, I crown you Guinevere, Queen of Camelot." Arthur said as he positioned the crown onto his wife's head before taking her by the hand, helping her to her feet and they stood facing the crowd before they sat on their throne to loud chants of 'Long Live the Queen'. _

"NO!" Morgana screamed as she woke up.


End file.
